The Trump administration pulled the most devastating lever against Columbia University on Wednesday when it announced it was targeting the school’s accreditation.
A typically mundane aspect of higher education but with the ability to destroy a university, the college accreditation process gives a school the ability to qualify for federal student loans and Pell Grants.
And the Education Department showed it would be using that avenue to its advantage.
What action did Education Department take?
The federal agency announced Columbia was in violation of Title VI federal antidiscrimination laws, zeroing in on the university’s alleged inaction on antisemitism.
The department said it would be informing Middle States Commission on Higher Education (the Commission), the college accreditation group responsible for Columbia’s status, of the violation and argues it’s the organization’s duty to take away Columbia’s accreditation status.
“After Hamas’ October 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel, Columbia University’s leadership acted with deliberate indifference towards the harassment of Jewish students on its campus. This is not only immoral, but also unlawful. Accreditors have an enormous public responsibility as gatekeepers of federal student aid,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said.
“Just as the Department of Education has an obligation to uphold federal antidiscrimination law, university accreditors have an obligation to ensure member institutions abide by their standards,” McMahon said. “We look forward to the Commission keeping the Department fully informed of actions taken to ensure Columbia’s compliance with accreditation standards including compliance with federal civil rights laws.”
The Hill has reached out to Columbia for comment.
The commission told The Hill it has received a letter from the Education Department regarding this matter but did not have further comment.
How does this affect Columbia’s financial aid?
With a price tag of over $71,000 per year for tuition and fees (not including room and board), losing access to federal student loans and Pell Grants would make the Columbia inaccessible to most of the country.
The university’s website says it awards $225 million each year in scholarships and grants, and 24 percent of first-year students receive Pell Grants.
What does university accreditation mean?
For a university to pass an accreditation process, it must meet numerous federal standards and have all aspects of its institution evaluated by an approved accreditor, from class selections to its admissions processes.
What has Trump said about accreditation?
President Trump, after calling the accreditation process his “secret weapon” on the campaign trail, signed an executive order in April looking to revamp college accreditation, accusing the organizations of “ideological overreach.”
The executive order aims to allow colleges to switch accreditors more easily and create more competition in the area.
Trump’s actions against Columbia so far
The attack on Columbia’s accreditation is the biggest escalation in Trump’s war with higher education, but an unsurprising one to those who have been watching the administration scale up its actions against the nation’s most prestigious institutions.
Columbia students’ leadership in the pro-Palestinian encampments that roiled college campuses across the country in spring 2024 put a target on the university in the eyes of Trump, Republicans and some pro-Israeli lawmakers.
Soon after Trump took office, the administration pulled $400 million in federal grants from Columbia. It demanded the Ivy League school make numerous changes to disciplinary and other policies to even begin talks of resuming the federal funding.
Within two weeks, Columbia met the administration’s demands and went forward in negotiations with the Trump administration, but only saw more attacks and pulled funding.
The dust settled and friendlier tones were struck after Columbia took swift action last month to shut down a pro-Palestinian protest. The administration praised the move.
The White House’s Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism said the school’s president “met the moment with fortitude and conviction,” adding it “is confident that Columbia will take the appropriate disciplinary actions for those involved in this act.”
But Wednesday’s actions took the fight to a height most in higher education were looking to avoid. Other universities locked in battle with the Trump administration, such as Harvard, will likely take this as a warning sign of what can come next for them.